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Galleries flock to London despite economic crisis

March 9, 2012

It seems that gallerists are not put off by the economic crisis in London; in the last couple weeks two commercial galleries have opened in close vicinity: Carroll/Fletcher on Eastcastle Street, Fitzrovia, and the Italian Ronchini Gallery on Mayfair’s Dering Street. Carroll/Fletcher is run by Jonathon Carroll and Steve Fletcher, two former traders who began collecting contemporary art in the ‘90s. Not coming from an art background they hope to educate the public more about contemporary art and break down some of the barriers. Ronchini Gallery, on the other hand is led by Lorenzo Ronchini and funded by Morgan Stanley banker Andrea Floccuzio. Lorenzo was influenced by his father Adriano Ronchini, an early collector of Arte Povera and Minimalist art and opened his first gallery was twenty years ago, aged 23, in Umbria. The London gallery will include International artists but according to ArtInfo UK Lorenzo hopes to focus on Italian artists, “It’s important for me, and for Italy too, to have somebody who believes in Italian art,” “Only Italian art from the 1960s and 1970s is considered important internationally. What I would like to do is to promote some Italian artists in London — they are very good artists and only need to have somebody who believes in them.” It was recently announced that David Zwirner also plans to open a gallery in London in October this year, adding to his New York spaces.